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ANN Sponsor Environmental Tectonics
Corporation has announced receipt of a contract from the
Royal Australian Air Force for its Advanced Spatial Disorientation
Trainer, the GYRO Integrated Physiological Trainer, Generation II
(GYRO-IPT-II).

Following delivery in June of this year, ETC will install and
commission the revolutionary trainer in the RAAF Aeromedical
Center. The GYRO-IPT-II will be used by the RAAF to train its high
performance aircraft pilots and other aircrew to successfully deal
with the problem of spatial disorientation.

The GYRO-IPT-II combines the latest available simulation
technology, including real world out-the-window visual effects,
realistic engine and flight sounds, detailed aircraft cockpit with
closed-loop flight controls and high fidelity aeromodels for a
single engine turboprop aircraft and a generic, turbine powered
helicopter. The trainer incorporates ETC's patented technology in
sub-threshold motion science. Conversion of the GYRO-IPT-II from a
fixed-wing configuration to a helicopter configuration can be done
in less than two minutes. Also, force feedback control loading is
included to provide the pilot trainee with the most realistic
flight experience short of actually flying an actual aircraft.

The high fidelity cockpit is mounted on an
electromechanical motion system that exceeds the capability of
conventional six-degrees-of-freedom motion systems, while quietly
and economically delivering high reliability. This motion system,
developed by ETC specifically to support spatial disorientation
training, stimulates the pilot with simultaneous continuous and
transient motions. Accordingly, the GYRO-IPT-II accurately
reproduces the motion and visual cue combinations that cause pilots
to mistake their aircraft position and motion with respect to the
earth's surface. This type of pilot error is called "Spatial
Disorientation (SD)."

Spatial Disorientation remains a largely unsolved problem for
military air forces and commercial airlines worldwide, and results
in many lost pilot lives and hundreds of millions of dollars in
aircraft losses. Possible reasons for the lack of a reduction in
mishaps caused by SD include increasingly complicated flight
activities, increased night and IMC flight operations, night vision
goggle flight operations, and more complex and capable aircraft.
However, the primary reason may lie in the approaches traditionally
taken to train aircrews to recognize and manage SD, since they
typically place the pilot in a passive learning role. ETC is
pleased to offer its latest technology, a fully interactive
solution, to remedy this problem with the GYRO-IPT-II.

The GYRO-IPT-II features 14 fixed-wing training
profiles and eight helicopter profiles that are flight-realistic
and fully automated to ensure that each trainee receives the same
high quality learning experience. These training profiles provide
pilots with the means to both recognize and avoid, or successfully
recover from, Spatial Disorientation. Additionally, ETC's
proprietary Interactive Profile Editor allows instructors to create
their own training profiles, thereby making the GYRO-IPT-II a
trainer that can keep pace with changing training requirements
throughout its life cycle.

In addition to Spatial Disorientation training, the GYRO-IPT-II
can train pilots in high risk flight maneuvers, including aircraft
upset recovery, spins, and stalls -- all in a safe, controlled
learning environment. The Instrument and Navigation system uses
real-world navigation data that is synchronized with its real-world
visual database to provide the most effective training for
instrument pilots. Finally, the GYRO-IPT-II can be equipped to
support research activities, and also to conduct motion sickness
desensitization.

"ETC is proud to provide the very latest in training and
simulation technology to the RAAF. The GYRO-IPT-II's many
capabilities and realism certainly will help provide RAAF pilots
with the tools for effective and safe flight operations," said Mr.
William F. Mitchell, President, ETC.